Tuesday, January 03, 2017

Tuesday Intros -- The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
Today, I was determined to have an intro that is not connected to France. So I chose The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs by Matthew Dicks. Truthfully, I hesitate to pick up a book written by a man, especially a man writing from a woman's viewpoint, but the story sounds interesting so I

thought I'd try it.
Here's the intro:

Caroline Jacobs rose, pointed her finger at the woman seated at the center of the table reserved for the PTO president and her officers, and said it. Shouted it, in fact. In the cafeteria of Benjamin Banneker High School, surrounded by crowded bulletin boards, scuffed linoleum, and the lingering smell of chicken nuggets, Caroline Jacobs had shouted a four-letter word. The four-letter word.The room fell silent.

"Your daughter attacked another student in the biology lab this morning.""She attacked someone?""Yes," Dr. Powers said. "A classmate. Mr. Schultz said that the girls were arguing about something in the back of the classroom and then Polly began shouting. Using profanity, from what I'm told. Before Mr. Shultz could reach them to intervene, Polly had punched Miss Dinali in the face. In the nose to be exact."

You have piqued my curiosity for two reasons today: the book is not set in France (LOL); and it is written by a man in a woman's POV. I would be reluctant about that second fact, too...but I'm curious now, as I enjoyed those excerpts.

I remember when I read a Chick Lit book that I was quite enjoying and then part way through realized that it was written by a man. Totally freaked me out .... until I then thought about how most of my favorite female characters have, in fact, been created by men : William Shakespeare's Beatrice and Viola, John Hughes' Watts, Truman Capote's Holly Golightly, Joss Whedon's Buffy Summers ;) It made me a little less hesitant to pick up a book with a man writing from a woman's POV. (That and the fact that I never hesitated picking up women writing men!) All that aside, it does sound like a great book and if I ever get through my current list I'll probably add it on!

I've just got to read that book! And not just because I've gone rounds with the school PTA folks when my boys were in a public primary school. *lol*

Men can be surprising creatures, eh? I read a lot of cozy mysteries of which the vast majority are written by women about women for women. Then I came across a series written about a man (and his dog) by a man...and it was delightful!